


Everything Will be Just Fine

by reverseblackholeofwords



Series: Devil May Care [11]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Game Theory - Fandom, Shadypenguinn, Supernatural, natewantstobattle, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Literal Months, because it hurt my heart so much, not gunna lie, so excited to finally reunite these boys, so you guys I've been sitting on this fluff for MONTHS, wrote this directly after finishing Blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25552504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reverseblackholeofwords/pseuds/reverseblackholeofwords
Summary: With the brothers on the run from John and Nate still fragile from the recent run-in with Afton and the three months spent with his father, Matt calls up Nate's old partner.In which: Jonathan is the ray of sunshine that we all need in these trying times.
Relationships: Matthew Patrick & Nathan Sharp, Nathan Sharp & Jonathan Indovino
Series: Devil May Care [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646251
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	Everything Will be Just Fine

They were on the run, and Matt guessed that was only fitting. It wasn’t bad enough that he was possessed by pure evil, or that said pure evil was terrorizing his little brother, or even that somehow, after everything, they still couldn’t put Freddy’s behind them. No, on top of all that, John Smith would most likely be scouring the country looking for them so that he could knock Matt’s teeth in - and he’d be lucky if that was all John did - and drag Nate away so that no one would ever find him again.

But rampant paranoia had already become Matt’s new normal anyway, so while Nate was in the bathroom at a rest stop, Matt made a few calls to the right people to sort some things out. And by the time Nate was back, Matt had, more or less, the beginnings of a plan.

Because they needed a game plan, a serious one, if they were going to stay a step ahead of Nate’s dad, and for that to happen, they needed rest and probably lots of coffee. And food, Matt wouldn’t shake a stick at food either.

* * *

Morning light was just beginning to peek through the trees at the edge of the crumbling parking lot when Matt pulled his car into an empty space and cut the engine, the Firebird rolling up next to him. When they got out, Nate rubbed his head and looked around, hair fluffed up on one side from resting against the seat. Matt smirked at him. “Good morning, sunshine. Did you drive half asleep?”

“Relax, I had one eye open the whole time.” As Nate rubbed at his eyes and looked around, his gaze settled on the motel where someone was leaning against the wall and watching them. It raised Nate’s shoulders. His whole body went stiff, but as Matt followed his gaze, he smiled.

“Don’t worry, I called him, and we arranged a place to meet,” Matt said, raising his hands, as Nate whipped around to look at him again. Matt knew he was scared that somehow, in some way, John would know about it and find them, but Matt was banking on the fact that John might not know they’d disappeared yet, if they were lucky.

Plus, Nate needed this.

Squinting in the morning sun, Matt gave Nate a reassuring smile. “Well, are you going to keep staring at me, or are you going to go say hi to your partner?”

Nate glanced back at Jonathan who had looked up when the two vehicles parked.

A moment later, Nate raced a few steps towards Jonathan and then stopped halfway to him. He felt a little stupid, being so excited, like a dumb little kid. “Uh, hey Shady, about - about Vegas...”

But before he could finish his apology or his excuse, whatever, a pair of arms wrapped around him and lifted him in the air.

Jonathan laughed and spun them in a circle before depositing Nate back on his feet again. Only when he did, Nate didn’t let go, and somehow, more than anything, more than months of being scared out of his mind, more than knowing exactly who Nate was with all those long weeks, that was the thing that choked Jonathan up.

“Thought I’d never see your ugly mug again,” he muttered, gripping the back of Nate’s flannel. “You think it would be that easy to get rid of me, huh? Disappear for three months - please - you’re gonna have to do a lot better than that!”

Nate still couldn’t believe it, that Jonathan had come after everything, that he was there. He felt dizzy. It could’ve been from happiness, but it was also likely from how tight Jonathan was squeezing him. “I’m sorry,” he gasped.

“Shut up, you’re my friend, Nate! You don’t have to apologize for trying to do the right thing, even if it was crazy,” Jonathan said, tears already falling down his cheeks. “Just don’t scare me like that again and buy me breakfast and we’ll call it even.”

Nate chuckled and shook his head, his hair still sticking out in all directions. “I don’t have any money, man.”

“Figures.” Jonathan shoved him back playfully, and Nate grinned, eyebrows dancing mischievously. But the longer Jonathan looked at Nate, the more he saw the changes. The hair, the weight loss, the obvious lack of sleep, and while it didn’t happen often, Jonathan felt the urge to snap someone’s neck.

And he knew just who he had in mind.

Nate seemed to notice the change in Jonathan’s expression, and his own gaze darted away just as Jonathan noticed Matt approaching behind them.

Jonathan rushed him, too, and picked him up in a massive bear hug, taking Matt a little off-guard. “Hey, Matty!” Jonathan frowned a little, like the name didn’t quite fit. “Pat? No.” He set Matt down. “Dude, what gives?” He looked at Nate. “You give everyone nicknames.” Then he pointed to Matthew. “So what’s his?”

Eyeing Matt, Nate smirked a little and wiggled his eyebrows. “Well, apparently the kids at camp used to call him MatPat…”

“No! No!” Matt said, reaching to cover Nate’s mouth even as he was blabbing. And he dodged and ducked as Nate slapped back at him. “You are not telling every hunter from here to LA that I go by MatPat. No way.”

Jonathan bounced up on his toes, though, obviously intrigued. “No, I like it! It’s catchy!” Winking, he added, “Like Peppermint Patty.”

Matt just rolled his eyes, but Nate reached up and gave Jonathan a fist to bump. “Knew I missed you for a good reason.”

“I regret this idea already. Now there’s two of you again,” Matt muttered mostly good-naturedly as he headed towards the front office to reserve a room, but Jonathan just held up a hand and shook his head, two sets of keys dangling from one finger.

“Already got you guys covered.” Jonathan tossed one room key to Matt and the other to Nate. “My treat.” Then he cut his eyes towards Nate. “And I guess I’m grabbing breakfast for all of us as well!”

Nate held up his hands and chuckled as Matt shoved him back towards the cars so they could get their things and move them into the room. As soon as they had everything inside, Nate glanced around and hid a yawn behind his hand. He slung his car keys around one finger then nodded towards the door. “I’ll drive.”

“No, you won’t,” Jonathan said, poking a finger in the middle of Nate’s forehead to stop him. “You can barely hold your eyes open.” Jonathan patted the side of Nate’s face and backed for the door, pointing between him and Matt. “Take a power nap, drink some water. I’ll be back in a second. Don’t you two go anywhere, alright?”

Once he was gone, Matt wiped a hand over his face. Gravity threatened to pull him down, and he knew he wouldn’t wake up again for several hours if he let it. They’d driven all night to put distance between themselves and Camp Wannapee, but now they were both paying for it. He pointed towards one of the beds and grabbed for his laptop. “You go ahead and lay down. I’ll figure out our next move.”

“What are you going to do?” Nate grumbled - sullen now that Jonathan’s bright-eyed optimism wasn’t around to cheer him up - while he searched for the TV remote. “Google: ways to hide from your crazy step-dad who also happens to be an ex-Marine and a supernatural monster hunter?” He flopped onto the bed once he located the remote and pressed the on-button a few times before smacking one end of it against his hand and trying again. “Stupid batteries are probably out.”

Matt took a seat by the window and booted up his laptop with a sigh. “You know, you could get up and turn it on.”

Nate huffed and tossed the remote onto the other bed, rolling over so that his back was to Matt and pouting like a kid. Matt wondered if he should just get up himself and turn on the TV, but he had only just started to convince himself when he heard Nate snoring. It put a smile on his face, and he rolled his eyes. Matt did, after another moment, set his laptop aside to grab his jacket from where he’d tossed it onto the other bed and laid it over Nate’s torso.

Nate curled in on himself beneath the jacket, sighing as some of the tension in his muscles melted away, and Matt watched him for a while just to make sure nothing changed. They’d both had their fair share of nightmares lately.

By the time he heard Jonathan’s car return, Matt went to meet him so Jonathan wouldn’t wake up Nate. With a finger to his lips, he opened the door and pointed towards the bed where Nate was still snoring, and Jonathan poked out a lip in an exaggerated “Aww” expression. They set the food down on the counter quietly while digging out whatever they wanted.

Jonathan had gathered up a feast for them: fried eggs, waffles, hashbrowns, and… Matt lifted a box of sushi rolls from one of the bags, an obvious question on his face, but Jonathan just shrugged and grabbed it from him, adding a few pieces of sushi to his breakfast plate. Then they took their meals outside to a little sitting area beside the motel pool.

* * *

The morning air was a little more bearable than the usual summer heat, especially under the shade of one of the pool-side umbrellas. Jonathan and Matt sat eating in silence and watching bugs skim across the surface of the blue water. Eventually, wiping his fingers off on a napkin, Matt sat back in his chair with a sigh. His gaze wandered the tree line that bordered the back of the motel.

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

“How so?” Jonathan had to swallow a mouthful of egg to ask.

Matt twisted his plastic fork through his fingers and kept watching the shifting shadows of the pine trees. “There’s no way I can keep John off our backs, not long enough to make sure Afton is gone for good.”

Jonathan considered that for a moment and lifted a bite of waffle to his mouth with his chopsticks. “You’re smart, MatPat. Don’t sell yourself short. Between your brains and Nate’s experience in hunting, I’m sure you two can stay a step ahead of Nate’s old man.”

He and Nate, Matt thought. They were going to be spending a lot of quality time together now, that was for sure, more than they had in six years, maybe ever. Matt took a deep breath of chlorine-scented air. “None of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t gone after Afton again. You and Nate knew how to look out for each other. I’m the one who messed everything up.”

Jonathan snorted a little and almost choked on his waffles. Beating at his chest, he finally got it all down and shook his head before he took a sip from his water bottle. “No offense, man, but you greatly overestimate how well we were doing before you showed up at that bar.” Jonathan took another long gulp of water and cleared his throat again. “People like to paint me as some hero for ‘putting up with Nate’ and ‘keeping him in check’ or whatever, but I haven’t met a hunter yet that’s all straight in the head. And that includes me.”

He dropped his chopsticks onto his plate. “When Nate and I met, I’d never hunted with anyone besides Gordon Walker, and I know you didn’t get to meet the man of the hour back there in Vegas, but you get the picture, right?”

Jonathan watched as Matt nodded to himself and picked at his eggs some more. “When I had a falling out with Gordon a couple years ago, we parted ways, and it was the first time I’d ever - I was still really young, you know? Didn’t think I could actually do anything on my own. I figured it was only a manner of time until I’d be forced to crawl back to Gordon, until I stumbled across your brother.”

Jonathan glanced back towards the motel. “Some people think we met, and I took pity on him for one reason or another because every other hunter he met hated him. But Nate was just…” Jonathan looked back to Matt who was staring at him now. “You know he’s never lost anyone on a hunt? Not many hunters can claim that, but Nate doesn’t lose people. He’d throw himself between anyone and danger, and sure, he’d give them hell about it but at least they were alive to hear him gloat, right?”

Matt’s hazel eyes darted away again as he took a moment to process that, and suddenly a few things started to line up in his head.

“A guy like that doesn’t deserve to be John’s loyal attack dog, if you know what I mean,” Jonathan spat, that anger returning again, bubbling up from deep inside him. “So, of course, needing all the help I could get, I struck up a conversation and not long after that, Nate started calling us partners. I certainly didn’t think anyone else would give me the same offer, and didn't expect a guy with his experience to be the one to do it. But, we got along. Worked really well together. I think in the beginning, part of us was just scared to be on our own again, but after a while we weren't worried about that anymore."

He hung his head a little, his ears a bright red as Matt stole glances back in his direction. “But we weren’t doing great before you came along, that’s for sure. Not with Nate hallucinating and throwing himself head first into danger without so much as a plan or backup almost like he-” He cut himself off and stabbed one of his chopsticks into a bite of sushi. “He needs you, Matt.” Then after a moment, Jonathan added, “And I think you need him, too.”

But Matt, covering his mouth as he listened, felt his stomach twist again and his breakfast churn uncomfortably. He wasn’t so sure. “How can I help him when Afton is-”

They both froze as they heard a familiar scream come from the motel, and Jonathan jumped up first, turning his chair over as he did and sprinting back to the room. Except he made it to the door and realized that he didn’t have a key to get in.

He was just about to kick the door in when Matt materialized beside him, unlocked it, and pushed inside as Jonathan reached for one of the silver knives tucked into his coat. But as they surveyed the motel room, neither of them saw a threat. And they didn’t see Nate either.

His heart climbing its way into his throat, Matt tore forward into the room and threw the curtains open to let in some light. “Nate?!”

Jonathan saw him first, huddled up on the floor between the beds with Matt’s jacket at his feet. He looked like he’d fallen in his sleep, probably tossing and turning. Jonathan dropped to one knee beside him as Matt stood frozen.

“You okay?” Jonathan asked, trying to get a look at Nate’s eyes, but they were screwed shut, his hand pressed to his side as he tried to wedge himself into the small space between the bed and the nightstand. “What happened?”

Nate gritted his teeth, still curled in on himself. “I shouldn’t have screamed, I’m sorry. It was stupid.” He sounded out of breath, panic left over from the nightmare still making him shiver. “I just - I woke up, and you were both gone. And… I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Jonathan shook his head and pulled Nate’s hand aside to check him. “Hey, it’s alright. We shouldn’t have left you alone in here.” His words got choked up in his throat when he lifted Nate’s shirt. He’d tugged hard at his stitches, but none were broken, thankfully. Instead it was the angry, jagged word “Mine” carved across Nate’s skin that made Jonathan stop.

Matt had explained briefly over the phone about Afton, something about possession, but seeing the effect, that was different. But Jonathan just lowered Nate’s shirt back into place and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You didn’t rip your stitches, so that’s good. Does anything else hurt?”

Nate shook his head, adamantly avoiding eye-contact and still not breathing right.

“How about food then? I got your favorite breakfast foods: waffles and sushi. A meal fit for a king, right?” Jonathan offered with a nervous smile and helped Nate to sit up a little straighter.

Waking up fully and looking around, Nate spotted Matt standing over Jonathan’s shoulder and blanched a little. “Sorry I scared you guys.”

But Matt reached a hand down to help Nate up, and pulling him to his feet, he gave him a quick, tight hug. “Don’t worry about it, always good to get the blood pumping early in the morning.”

Nate nodded as relief slowly eased away at his tense muscles. Still feeling a bit embarrassed, he glanced towards the bags of food. “So, you mentioned sushi for breakfast?”

Jonathan clapped him on the back and turned for the kitchenette. “Yeah, I got all your favorites. MatPat and I were having a picnic out by the pool!” As Matt rolled his eyes at the nickname, Jonathan swung open the door, holding it aside for them. Once Nate grabbed his portion of the food - Jonathan urging him to get all he wanted when he noticed Nate holding back - they filed out, and Jonathan brought up the rear.

“Why are we eating outside? I hate the outside,” Nate grumbled, and Matt reached over to ruffle his short but sweaty hair.

“You could use the fresh air.” Jonathan poked at Nate’s ribs - the side that wasn’t stitched up - so that Nate had to dodge out of his reach or run the risk of dropping his food.

“I’ve had all the fresh air I can take,” he muttered as he plopped his food down next to Matt and Jonathan’s, and they all sat down to finish their meal.

By the time they’d polished off the last of the sushi and Nate and Jonathan had a burping contest that could rattle the tops of the trees, Matt caught Jonathan glancing at his watch. Nate noticed a second later and fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist as Jonathan looked up at him. “Gotta head out. I’m technically only passing through,” Jonathan told him. “I’ve got a case about an hour south of here.”

Nate nodded, obviously sulking.

“It’s actually…” Jonathan tugged on his ear and glanced away. “Remember that certain favor that we owe that certain person because she totally saved our butts that one time?”

Nate almost choked on his water, eyes bugging out a bit. “You’re working with _her_?” He sat back and jutted out his bottom lip. “I’m kinda jealous.”

Matt glanced back and forth between the two of them with a confused smile on his face. “Do I not get to know who you’re referring to here?”

“Oh, you’ll probably meet her someday,” Nate said and poked at the last of his waffles that he hadn’t already eaten. “She’s one of those hunters who knows everybody and who everybody owes a favor to. And she's one of the few hunters that doesn't want me dead, because if she did...”

“You would be dead!" Jonathan snorted and added, "I’ll be sure to tell her you said hi." Then he balled up his napkin, shooting it at the nearest trash can, and pumping his fist in the air when he made the shot.

After cleaning up, as Nate milled around next to Jonathan’s car, Matt gave Jonathan another hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem, man. Thanks for giving me a call.” Jonathan patted him on the back and chuckled softly to himself. “Hah, I’m patting MatPat.”

Matt scoffed. It really was like having two Nates sometimes.

“But seriously,” Jonathan pulled back a little. “You need something, let me know. I’ll check in on Stephanie, I’ll babysit your cat, whatever you need.”

“Sure thing,” Matt said with a nod, already chewing at the inside of his cheek in order to hold back tears at the thought of Stephanie alone. “Uh, just tell her I love her, and that we’ll be home as soon as we can be.”

Jonathan nodded. “I will, but I don’t think it’ll be the same coming from me.” He grinned and backed away. “See you later, MattyPatty.”

“Take it easy on him, will you?” Nate laughed as Jonathan approached his car. “He’s got to put up with _me_ for the foreseeable future.”

“And we all know what a pain that is,” Jonathan agreed and pulled Nate into another hug, one he more or less returned. “Stay safe, and for God’s sake - and Matthew’s - please take care of yourself.”

Nate huffed. “Oh, Shady, stop that. You’re going to make me cry.”

“So what? We’re all secure in our masculinity here.” Jonathan finally let Nate go before he broke a rib. “Hey.”

Nate met his eyes, jaw clenched tight.

“I don’t blame you for what happened in Vegas,” Jonathan said quietly, softly. “And as far as I’m concerned, you don’t owe me a thing - if anything, I’m the one that owes you!” He chuckled humorlessly, and Nate gave a rueful smirk. Finally, Jonathan managed a deep breath. “And I know you got to go with Matt for a while, but if you’re ever in the mood to hunt with your old partner… Or if you just need anything at all-”

His voice broke a little, and Nate looked away again.

“I’ll call you. Seriously, I will.”

Jonathan nodded, grateful for that at least. Then, before he could talk himself out of it, he got back into his car, started it, and backed out of the parking lot.

Nate crossed his arms over his chest, watching him go and chewing at his lip subconsciously. Matt walked up behind him and bumped their shoulders together. Nate scratched behind one ear. “Thanks for that, for calling him and arranging this, you know.”

“Yeah, well,” Matt sighed, “I knew you’d be insufferable if you didn’t get to see your other half.” He looked back in the direction of the pool, his forehead wrinkling up in thought. “Besides, we had a good talk.”

That got Nate’s attention, and he cut his eyes up to Matt. “What did you two talk about? Me?”

Matt smirked, “Ha ha,” and turned back to go inside as Nate chased after him.

“Hey! If he told you about Tallahassee, that totally wasn’t my fault! It was Reggie’s idea to use the firecrackers!”

Propping open the door with his hand, Matt’s eye widened. “Well, now I want to know what happened with the firecrackers in Tallahassee.”

Nate clammed up, realizing he’d made a mistake, and then scowling, he muttered, “You’re the worst,” as he stomped back inside the room.

“Yeah, well, too bad for you because we’re going to get to spend a lot of quality time together,” Matt said and let the door swing shut behind him.

Surely that would go smoothly, right?


End file.
